Flight Of A Lifetime
by LuckyLark and Darkshadow
Summary: Scarlet was now writhing on the ground, twisting her arms behind her back to reach the sword. Iris watched at the dragons who were quickly shrinking in the distance, and then looked behind her into the woods. 'This is going to be the flight of a lifetime.' She thought before soaring after the dragonets. (Written by - LuckyLark and Darkshadow)
1. Prologue: 7 years ago

**A/N - Hey everyone, I'm baaaaaack! And hopefully with better writing, as I know there's stories on this account that are going to get complete rewrites. Thing will pick up in a chapter or two, I've just gotta get boring introductory stuff outta the way first.**

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 _The wind howled through the trees, drenching anything that dared to be out. The rumbling and crashes of lightning shook the skies, their brief flashing bringing brief respite from the stormy darkness._

 _In the safety of the rain forest, a Rainwing egg shook before the shell shattered. Darkness enveloped the hatchling as a curious chip rang out. Unbeknownst to her, the storm raging high above marked a death, and the wavering hope in a prophecy to save all of Pyrrhia. They often say however, that ignorance is bliss. Taking a clumsy step, almost tripping over her tail and wings, she huffed as vegetation met her. The dark red of annoyance spread over her scales, the curiosity to explore strong. Craning her neck to look behind, she saw that the only openings were above. Fruitlessly flapping her wings, her determination faded as a yawn overtook her, the rain outside comforting, until the wind would remind those around of its presence with a loud shriek, and the lightning with a rumble and crash. /span/em/p_

 _A new sound reached the hatchling's ears, the faint sound of leathery wingbeats growing stronger every second. Cocking her head to the side, the curious Rainwing perked up, purple and orange swirling with the red on her scales. Flapping her wings and sending water droplets flying, she folded them back in with a satisfied huff before continuing to stare upwards, the urge to hide tugging at her. Before she could change her mind, the wingbeats came to an abrupt halt, a soft glow filtering into the nest. Twitching an ear, she could hear the faint sounds of wings being tucked in over the storm._

 _Taking a stumbling step back as a dragon's head poked in through one of the holes, she quickly righted herself before taking a better look. Her ruckus caused the dragon to look at her, and mutter under his breath before continuing to look around the nest. The dragonet chirped in wonder at the glowing stripes on the dragon's head and snout. She could make out the silhouette of two large, back sweeping horns, aided by the glow. Letting out a panicked yelp as he leaned farther in, she scrambled away before observing once more. She spotted his talons reaching for an egg, spider web thin cracks already visible on the shell. Confused, she let out a chirp as he took the egg from its spot, the soft glow leaving as the dragon withdrew, leaving the darkness of night in its place. The nest shook slightly as he took off, heavy wingbeats soon disappearing as the rain and wind covered them._

 _Making her way over to where the other egg had lain, the dragonet looked from the spot to the openings in the ceiling of the nest several times, confusion evident on her face. Tiredness soon dragged her down into the darkness of sleep, collapsing where the stolen egg had been._


	2. Chapter 1

**YAAAAAY! WE'RE FINALLY DOING SOMETHING WITH THIS STORY!**

* * *

Iris gently plucked the flower from the earthy crack in the mountain. She lifted the purple and white blossom to her eye. Smiling, she tenderly placed the flower in the side pocket of her woven satchel. Suddenly, she heard voices in the distance, hunching down closer to the floor of the mountain ledge. Her Rainwing scales melted from pale purple to a stone gray, spotted with pure white, rock and snow. The same color as the mountain.

She slowly looked to the sky, the voices she had heard was a Skywing patrol. They flew leisurely across the mountain; eventually turning along the border of the frothing Diamond Spray Delta. As the Skywings became red specks in the distance Iris's scales began fading back into a soft purple.

She spread her wings a jumped off the ledge, descending into the forest below.

By the time Iris was tree gliding through the rainforest it had been night for a long while. She didn't like being out in the rainforest at night, the fact that a place once full of color and light can become so drained and dark in a few hours just didn't sit right with her.

As she was trying to ignore the darkness closing in around her, she saw a large lump in the distance. At first she thought it was a sleeping orangutan, it was a similar shape. The shadowy figure was resting on a tree branch, Iris alighted on the trunk of the same tree. Her eyes strained to see what it was in the pitch darkness, it was much too big to be an orangutan.

Suddenly a loud rippling snore came from the shape. Iris smiled, she recognized that snore; she had slept in the same hut as that snore for her entire life.

"JAMBU!" she roared joyfully, tackling her brother in a hug.

Jambu jolted awake, his solid black scales slamming into to purple with bright orange spots. He shook his head, as if clearing away the tiredness. "Iris! You're back! I was waiting up for you!"

Iris laughed, "Oh really? Do you call sitting with your eyes closed waiting up for me?"

Jumbu frowned, "Did I fall asleep?" He looked around, as if registering his surroundings for the first time. "When did it get so dark?"

Iris turned a sunny yellow, "Forget it, did anything exciting happen while I was gone?" Iris doubted notable things ever happened in the rainforest, but she knew her brother, everything was exciting to him.

Jambu brightened immediately, "Oh yes, so many things! Bromelaid found a new type of berry on the forest floor, it's white and feels like raindrops in your mouth. Coconut challenged Macaw to a sleeping contest; you know, who can sleep the longest. And guess-"

Iris held up a talon, "Tell me while we glide Jambu."

They jumped off the tree in synchronization, gripping the next branch with their tails and swinging themselves forward. Jambu prattled on about every single thing that had happened in the rainforest since Iris had left two days ago, and she in turn told him about everything that had happened to her. Jambu loved her stories.

"You know, you could come with me sometime." Iris said, secretly hoping he would say no. It's not that she didn't love her brother, but she was pretty sure Jambu would never make it outside of the rainforest.

Jambu looked taken aback, a stripe of acid green shot through his scales, "Leave the rainforest? Why? I still don't understand why you do it."

Iris shrugged, "It's your choice." She spread her wings wide and slowly soared down onto the wooden platform outside their shared hut.

Jambu landed next to her, "Loris made another batch of marmalade, I know you love that stuff. We can fly over there tomorrow and get some." He finished speaking with a yawn, his excitement wearing off.

"Goodnight Jambu." Iris said softly as her brother plodded off to his side of the hut. The hut was cut in half, each dragon had their own room. She went around the corner and entered her half. Iris's room was built the same as Jambu's, but that was where the similarities ended. While Jambu's room was a pile of soft leaves with random 'treasures' thrown around, Iris' room had shelf upon shelf of labeled jars and specimens, with a hammock in the corner.

Iris used to barely sleep in that hammock when she was younger, staying up all night painstakingly writing out little notes in her best handwriting, or teaching herself to read, or making star charts; Jambu finally had to give her a bedtime after he found her passed out in a pile of leaves and homemade ink. Of course the bedtime rule eventually faded as she got older and began venturing farther out of the rainforest, but Jambu still had to make her go to bed sometimes.

Iris hung her satchel on the hook by the door, and crawled into her hammock. She reached a talon to the ceiling and felt another claw brush hers. Something furry slowly crawled down her forearm, eventually wrapping it's soft arms around her neck. Iris held her sloth's claw, but felt a strange lump. Reaching under her hammock and feeling around in the darkness she grasped a jar. She lifted it up above her head, it was a jar full of glowworms.

Using them as a light, she pulled the lump from her sloth. It was a small parcel made of leaves. She reached inside and pulled out a minuscule piece of scroll, it read:

 _ **Meet me IMMEDIATELY, same place, same time.**_

Iris shot up out of her hammock, she quickly removed the sloth off of her neck and set her on a shelf. The note still gripped tightly in her hand she pulled the satchel off the wall, the dragonet rushed around the room throwing several strange items in the bag before rushing to the door.

She stopped suddenly, throwing the note towards the floor. Her jaw unhinged, not unlike a cobra, and two flecks of venom spewed from her fangs. They hit the piece of paper mid-air. Her scales dissipated into the night as she took to the sky.

The note dissolved before it hit the floor.

* * *

 **SO MANY MYSTERIES! But wich do we solve first?**


	3. Chapter 2

Iris flew silently along the southern coast of the Rainforest Kingdom. She squinted. Rainwings didn't have the best eyesight, but she was certain she would have seen him already.

 _'How hard can it be to spot a columbine blue dragon, especially with two full moons? Maybe the meeting place is farther inland than I remember. I haven't seen him in so long, six months maybe?'_ Iris thought for a moment before turning and drifting north.

The luscious rainforest began thinning into temperate woodland as she sailed along, and she could see the mountains in the distance.

Her wings were tiring and eyelids drooping when she passed Jade Mountain. Usually, tree gliding saved her a lot of energy, but she had been flying for three hours, not considering the long flight earlier; her stamina was fading.

 _'If I just drop down for a quick rest, I'll be able to search better later. He'll have to wait for me,'_ Iris thought, falling more than flying towards the tree line on the bank of a small river. She gripped the trunk of one of the trees and nestled into the crook of the branch. She brought her satchel to her chest and folded her wings around her. Her wings relaxed and she shifted into a deep blue, matching the dark night around her. A part of her wanted to keep searching, but that part was muted as sleep overcame her.

"One of these killed Queen Oasis? Really?"

"Can we eat it?"

"Starflight says they're endangered."

Iris shook her head slightly, 'Who is that? It doesn't sound like any Rainwing I know.' She blinked rapidly, only her eyes moving to look around her. The sun was rising above the mountains, its warm rays creeping up the tree she was residing in.

The pine needles digging into her side brought her back to reality, and the memories from that night began swirling around in her head.

 _'Did I imagine those voices? Who's Starflight? What time is-'_

A sharp scream interrupted her thoughts and Iris's eyes shot down towards the sound. A scavenger was sprinting away from two dragonets, a Seawing and a Mudwing.

The Seawing poked a claw into a sack on the ground; Iris assumed the scavenger had left it.

"There's treasure in here!" The blue dragon lifted up a small stone pendant from the bag, "So... pretty..." she said, mesmerized.

The Mudwing glanced at the Seawing questionably, "Can we keep all this?"

Suddenly a sharp voice came from the forest below the tree bound dragonet, "Certainly not. Unless you want to fight me for it."

A massive dragon stepped out from the shadows, a dragon that commanded respect from all of Pyrrhia, a dragon who murdered for fun, a dragon with more riches than all of her kingdom combined.

Queen Scarlet, Ruler of the Skywings, an ally of the Mudwings and Queen Burn of the Sandwings, stepped out onto the river bank.


	4. Chapter 3

Iris could tell it was Scarlet from the gold, ruby-encrusted chestplate she wore, it matched perfectly with the rubies jutting out of her eye ridges. These features had been described thoroughly by disdainful soldiers at outposts, having no idea there was a young Rainwing dragonet crouched beneath the window.

The red queen towered over the dragonets She spread her wings majestically, blocking Iris's view of the action.

"Who are you?" Iris heard the spunky Seawing demand.

Scarlet tilted her head, the rubies glimmering in the sunlight. She shifted her wings slightly. Iris caught a glimpse of the Mudwing, his eyes were wide and he was crouched low to the ground. He looked terrified.

"How can you not know that?" Scarlet demanded, "You're not a very good spy, are you, Seawing?"

"I'm not a spy!" The blue dragonet ranted, "We've been, held prisoner, kind of. We just escaped!"

Iris's mind was running wild with ideas, 'Did they commit a crime? They look about my age, what crime could they have committed that was enough to get them held prisoner? They still would have known about Queen Scarlet, right? Wait, how many years has she been Queen? Let's see, one, two, three,'

The Queen in question interrupted Iris's thoughts, "A Seawing and a Mudwing held prisoner? But you're not from my dungeons unless I'm getting horribly forgetful. So who could you be?"

'THAT'S EXACTLY MY QUESTION!' Iris thought, her claws itching to jump down and start interrogating the dragons.

The Mudwing finally spoke, Iris could see him pulling the pendant out of the Seawing's talons, "Tsunami, come on. Just give back her treasure and let's go." He reached out his claw tentatively, holding out the necklace, "Here you go. We don't want any trouble."

"Oh, neither do I." Scarlet said with a dangerous edge in her voice, "That's why it makes me so sad when trouble keeps coming to me." There was a sickening crunch and Iris flinched, it sounded like the time her claws were smashed between two rocks.

"Nobody touches my treasure!" Queen Scarlet growled.

Tsunami's eyes lit up like fire, "We didn't know! We don't even know who you are!"

The Queen strode forward threateningly, she completely shrouded Iris's view.

Iris leaned forward, nervously scratching the bark of the tree.

"Oh, didn't I say? My name is Scarlet. But you may call me Your Majesty if you want to live." She turned slightly, "Now you, Mudwing," she said with a questioning lilt in her voice, "Make me curious. We're on the same side. So why didn't you recognize me?"

"I don't-we're just passing through-I mean-it was an honor to meet-we have to go!" The Mudwing stuttered.

Scarlet kept up her speech, "But you can't abandon me mid-conversation. I know, I'll bring you back to my sky palace with me. Won't that be thrilling?"

Iris didn't remember tearing the pinecone off of the tree, she didn't remember reaching back and hurling it in the direction of the Queen's head, but what she would remember for years to come was the rage-filled shriek that followed.

"WHO THREW THAT!" Scarlet roared whipping her head around, her face contorted with fury. Her eyes scanned the tree line, Iris sat there, paralyzed by the queen's gaze. Scarlet's eyes seemed to linger on her for a moment, before turning back to the Mudwing. "Wait, where is-"

Tsunami suddenly appeared behind Scarlet, slamming a scavenger sized sword down onto the tip of the Queen's tail, driving it into the ground.

Scarlet screamed with fury, "How dare you?" She twisted her neck around to see Tsunami taking off.

"Fly!" Tsunami shouted to the sky, the Mudwing shot after her.

Iris raised her wings, but hesitated, _'What do I really know about these dragons? And what about my meeting. Then again, I know Queen Scarlet, and I don't want to stick around much longer with her angry.'_

Scarlet was now writhing on the ground, twisting her arms behind her back to reach the sword.

Iris looked at the dragons who were quickly shrinking in the distance, and then looked behind her into the woods.

 _'This is going to be the flight of a lifetime.'_ She thought before soaring after the dragonets.


	5. Chapter 4

Iris flew silently below Tsunami, her scales blending in seamlessly to fit the space around her.

Above her, Tsunami's eyes glanced down before flitting back to the mountains ahead.

Iris eyed her own wings suspiciously, Tsunami couldn't actually see her, could she?. Even so, she fell back behind the blue dragonet's tail, hoping that would hide her better. She hugged her satchel closer to her chest.

Iris looked behind her and studied the forest they had just left, there had been no sign of Queen Scarlet so far. She began to wonder if she was actually going to get away with throwing a pinecone at the violent Queen of the Skywings.

' _What a great story to tell Jambu!_ ' She thought excitedly.

Iris looked back at Tsunami, or at least where she used to be. In a whirlwind of blue Tsunami slammed into the Rainwing mid-air. The sudden shock caused Iris's scales to radiate a bright green, she barely had time to make a single squeak before Tsunami closed one webbed talon over her snout with another holding her wing behind her back.

"Who are you, and why are you following us?" The Seawing questioned, furious. The Mudwing was hovering where he was before, only now he was turned to face the captive Rainwing.

Iris shook her snout free from Tsunami's grasp, "My name is Iris, I'm from the Rainforest Kingdom! I've been following you since Queen Scarlet," Iris's wings twitched, "I threw the pinecone at her!"

The Mudwing gaped, "That was you?"

Iris nodded, "Yep," she watched Tsunami's webbed claws nervously, "Can- Can you let me go?"

Tsunami growled and slowly took her talons off of Iris. She flapped back few feet and eyed the Rainwing suspiciously. "Are you with the Talons?"

Iris blinked, "What are the Talons?"

The Mudwing turned to Tsunami, "I don't think she's a threat, we should just let her go."

Tsunami glared at the Mudwing, "We can't Clay! She could tell someone about us! All they'd have to do is offer her some fruit or something and she'd tell them exactly where we went."

Iris frowned, she knew most dragons didn't take Rainwings seriously, but thinking she would betray a dragon's trust for a piece of fruit? Ridiculous!

"Why would I betray you for fruit? We have enough of that in the Rainforest." Iris stated obviously.

This was apparently not the input they were looking for. Tsunami gave her a fierce look. Clay's eyes scanned from Tsunami to Iris, the former gave her a sympathetic look.

"Look," Iris said, calming down a bit and her scales turning a mellow blue, "I'm not the smartest bird in the nest, but even I can see that you're in trouble. You'll have Queen Scarlet on your tails soon if we don't hurry." The two dragons didn't seem convinced. "I just want to help, and I'm tired of being told I can't!" Iris voiced desperately.

Clay nudged Tsunami in the ribs and both dragons huddled together. Violet strained to hear what they were saying, but, compared to the songs of the rainforest, the silence of the open air was deafening.

Finally, the two dragonets faced Iris again. The Rainwing noticed that Tsunami had a particularly sour look on her face. Clay spoke up, "If you promise not to tell anyone what you saw, you can help us."

Iris put a claw to her chest and nodded, "I won't even tell my own brother." Iris knew she would regret that someday, but that was the most solemn swear she could think of.

Clay continued, "Some dragons are keeping our friends trapped. We just escaped, and are going back to help them."

Tsunami bared her teeth, "Just so you know, there's five of us and one of you, so don't try anything."

Iris gulped.

Clay jerked his head back, "Come on, we have to go." He swooped under Tsunami and flew off towards the mountains.

Tsunami waited until Iris had flown past her before following close behind, bumping into her tail whenever she felt the Rainwing was going to slow.

After swooping and diving in between the mountains for what seemed like ages, the trio landed on a small cliff face. Clay and Tsunami viewed the scenery as if they were seeing it for the first time. The Seawing saw something in the distance and pointed, "Over there!"

Iris followed the blue dragonet's gaze and saw a thin pillar of smoke rising in the sky. The two dragonet's beside her leaped off the ledge in unison and flew towards it. Iris quickly tailed behind, the cold morning air piercing her scales.

The Rainwing stopped and hovered next to Tsunami, she was peering down into a hole in the mountain, which was the source of the smoke. The smell of it was unfamiliar, almost like burning wood, but different in some way.

"Starflight and Sunny must be right there," Clay said, gesturing to the gap in the stone, "Right below us!"

Iris was confused. _Under all this rock, who would ever live down there?_

"So we're close, but we just have to find the entrance," Tsunami said. "The tunnel must come out somewhere nearby." She flew down to the base of the mountain and began pacing around.

Clay flew up and seemed to be studying the place from above. Iris flapped up next to him.

"So, how long were you and your friends left in this place? How many of you are there? Are they Mudwings and Seawings like you? Who are the Talons of Peace? Tsunami mentioned them earlier."

Clay seemed taken aback by the bombardment of questions. He paused for a moment as if sifting through them.

"Um, me and my friends have been kept under the mountain our whole lives," Iris gasped at this, she couldn't imagine spending every day in a dark and damp cave. Clay continued, "Not counting Kestrel, Dune, and Webs, those are our guardians, there are five of us. No, not all of us are Mudwings and Seawings. Starflight is a Nightwing, Sunny is a Sandwing, and Glory is a Rainwing like you."

Iris gave Clay a look of horror, "Does Glory get sun time?" She was afraid to learn the answer.

Clay blinked slowly. "What's sun time?"

Iris went pale. No matter where a Rainwing went, no matter what they were doing, they ALWAYS had sun time. What was a non-sun Rainwing like? Was she deformed? Iris felt like getting her hands on the people who took these poor dragonets hostage.

While Iris had been busy plotting Clay's gaurdian's demise the aforementioned Mudwing had gone down by Tsunami. They looked like they were discussing something, and Tsunami flew back up to the Rainwing.

"You, keep watch. If you see any dragons coming, and I mean any dragons, get us. We're gonna' be down there." Tsunami pointed at a ravine down on the ground before flipping back and diving into it. Clay gave Iris a little wave before following.

Iris smiled at his kind gesture before flopping down. She turned a dusty brown and enjoyed the warmth of the newly risen sun. She watched the sky closely. Then watched the sky more closely. Then continued watching the sky.

Iris began to realize that she did not have a lot of patience.

She twisted her head around and stretched her neck. She plodded around her little space. She practiced her camouflage. She fiddled with the strap of her satchel. She glanced from the sky to the ravine over and over.

"Ravine, empty sky, ravine, empty sky, ravine, empty sky, red dragons flying towards me, ra-" Iris stopped. "Red dragons flying towards me, SKYWING SOLDIERS FLYING TOWARDS ME!"

She scrambled up and raced down the mountain, her satchel slipped off her shoulder and thumped to the ground. Her talon scraped on the rock as she blasted off and spiraled down into the ravine. She spotted an open cave and charged through the entrance. It was dark and cramped and cold but Iris had more on her mind. She burst into a large cave.

"SKYWING SOLDIERS HEADING THIS WAY!"

Iris witnessed five heads turn towards her. A Nightwing burdened with the most scrolls the Rainwing had ever seen in her life. A small Sandwing with golden scales. A fidgety looking Seawing. An orange Rainwing flecked with blue. And finally, a Mudwing with a look of fear on his face.

"Who's that?" The new Rainwing snapped suspiciously.

"A friend," Clay said, racing to the exit, "And she says Skywing soldiers are coming, which means we need to go."

But something made Clay stagger back, and that something was an angry looking Queen of the Skywings and a group of at least ten soldiers, all armed.

"My, my, won't this just be _thrilling_."


	6. Chapter 5

Clay took a step back, as did Iris. He shielded the small group of dragonets behind him with his broad wings.

"You followed us here," Tsunami choked out, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Oh, I didn't have to," said the queen; she sounded delighted. "Somebody started a lovely smoke signal that my soldiers and I simply followed."

Iris watched Clay's reaction. His eyes widened in shock and his wings trembled. She sidestepped closer and brushed her wing against his. He gave her a short glance before looking back at Scarlet, a new sense of determination evident on his face.

The small, banana yellow, dragon, whom Iris presumed was Sunny, squeaked from the back of the group. "Who-who are you?"

The queen's face morphed into an annoyed expression. "Now really, this is getting insulting. You're in my territory. Apparently, you're living under my mountain. I am only the most important dragon for hundreds of miles. How dare you not recognize me?" She arched her neck like a cobra ready to strike and spread her crimson wings wide.

The dragon carrying all of the scrolls staggered a bit and dropped a few of them. He bowed overdramatically.

"Now that's more like it!" The queen cried happily. She strode forward as if the cave were just another room in her palace. Touching the damp walls she said, "Three moons, it's gloomy in here."

As she took another step and crushed runaway scroll beneath her feet. The paper became muddied and wrinkled.

Iris gasped, I've longed to own just a single scroll all my life! How can she just stamp it out like it's nothing?

The Skywing queen smirked and took the scroll-carrying dragon's face in her hands. Clay marched towards her, but the soldiers clanked their spears and he stopped short.

"Oh how cute! A Nightwing just for me!" Scarlet took a single talon and tapped him on the head. "Tell me, what am I thinking right now?" The Nightwing, or Starflight as Iris quickly put together, tried to turn his head towards his friends, but Scarlet jerked his head back roughly. "Too hard?" Queen Scarlet teased. "I'll give you a hint. I'm thinking: Now why would a Nightwing, Seawing, and a Mudwing be hiding out under my mountain? Along with whatever those three are that the Mudwing is so cutely trying to protect?" Her tail flicked towards the angry Rainwing, Sunny, and Iris. The angry Rainwing huffed.

Iris piped up, never one to not properly inform someone, "Well, Queen Scarlet, I and that red and black dragon are Rainwings, and Sunny is some sort of fascinating sub-species of Sandwing."

The queen didn't l even look at her. She gripped Starflight's head tighter and slowly lifted him up with one hand. "These strange living arrangements wouldn't happen to be part of a certain prophecy, would they?"

Iris' mind blanked, 'Prophecy, what is she talking about?' She was about to ask this when a husky voice echoed from the back of the cave.

"What is going on out here, who's shouting?" The source of the voice appeared out of a small side tunnel. It was elderly Sandwing who was missing a foot. At least, Iris thought he was old, for all she knew there could be a spry young dragonet underneath all of those scars.

He stopped, fear took over his maimed features. "Webs!" He shouted, his voice like a hacking cough.

Then, he charged at the Skywing queen.

In an instant, Scarlet dropped Starflight on the ground and met the Sandwing's charge at full force. She snarled and leaped at him. Someone screamed. Iris's heart pounded against her ribs. It seemed like all of her senses were in overdrive. She could smell the blood pouring down the Sandwing's scarred face. She could hear the Skywings rush to defend their queen. She saw a new Seawing bolt into the fray and watched him fight the soldiers.

Clay turned to the trio of dragons he was protecting. "You should all hide."

"Disappear while you try and die for us again," The angry Rainwing that Iris figured was Glory spat, "No thanks." She rushed past him to fight alongside Tsunami, who was already attacking.

Clay surveyed the room before turning back to Iris, "Protect Sunny," he said before running to join the fight.

Sunny pushed past the Rainwing guarding her. "Wait, I can help!"

Iris grabbed the small dragonet and pulled her back. "You can't go out there, I'm supposed to protect you." Iris realized she sounded a lot like her brother.

Sunny tried squirming away, but she was no match for the Rainwing who was double her size. She sat down begrudgingly next to her captor and growled, "They never let me do anything."

"That's just what siblings do," Iris replied. Her green eyes searched the battlefield, waiting for an enemy to jump out and attack. But apparently, none of them thought a minuscule Sandwing and pastel Rainwing were worth the effort.

Suddenly, a stillness fell over the fight. All heads turned to the back of the cave. Standing there was a big, crimson, Skywing.

It wasn't the queen.

"Poor, poor, Scarlet," The mystery dragon hissed, "Everyone betrays you. Well, you've got me now. Let these worthless others go." She advanced across the cave, maintaining steady eye contact with the Skywing ruler.

Iris looked down at Sunny, the dragon's tiny face was a mix of hopeful and sorrowful. "Wasn't she one of your kidnappers?" Iris whispered.

Sunny shook her head. "Kidnappers? No, Kestrel was like our mom. She was kind of a mean mom, but she was the only mom we had."

Scarlet was demanding Kestrel and the dragonets come with her now. "You can't really expect me to give up prizes like this?"

Kestrel snorted. There was a hint of laughter in her voice as she said, "They're no prizes." She looked cynically at the dragonets, doing a double take when she reached the striking violet scales of Iris. "Plus the Mudwing seems to attract Rainwings."

"And, I'm weird looking!" Sunny added. Iris shushed her.

The queen smirked and smoke unfurled from her snout. "Oh, they're just the new blood my arena needs. It would be terribly sad to let them go. I would be too, too devastated." She put a claw to her horns and mimed fainting.

Iris looked over at the open cave exit. Maybe if Sunny and I run we can make it.

These hopeful thoughts were crushed by a Skywing soldier glaring at her. He strode over and pointed his spear at her. "Come quietly Rainwimg, or don't come at all."

Iris' claws shook. The queen was still talking. She held the beaten Sandwing's head in her hands and shook it violently. "I mean, what use is a crippled dragon who can't fly? I'm surprised you haven't killed yourself already, Sandwing, but I can take care of that for you."

"No!" Suny screamed, leaping out from underneath Iris' wing.

But the sound of a single dragonet didn't seem to bother Scarlet, with a resounding crack, she snapped the dragon's neck and dropped him.

Iris flinched, she had only seen a dragon die once. And they were surrounded by friends and family in a warm hut. There wasn't a snap or crack, just a quiet sigh. She couldn't imagine taking a dragon's life so easily, or at all, really.

Sunny ran past the soldier and squirmed in between Scarlet's talons to crouch beside the body. Iris began to follow, but the soldier jabbed his spear in her face.

"Please, I want to go comfort my friend." She whispered. A glimmer of sympathy seemed to flit across the Skywing's face. He shook his head slowly and gently pressed his spear to her chest.

Behind him, another dragon held up a long roll of metal chains.

And with that, Iris was handed over to the Skywing Queen.


	7. Chapter 6

Two Rainwings sat in the Skywing palace, waiting for the Queen to arrive.

Iris studied the throne room in fascination. It was so much different from the Rainwing Palace. In place of flowers, the walls seemed to be soaked in gold, and an absolutely massive, marble throne sat at the back of the room. Iris proudly noted the cold, hard, decor had nothing against the throne of the Rainwings; on which you could relish in the life and joy of the leaves and petals. Though one element of the room that did appeal to Iris was an open wall that faced the mountains, giving her a full view of the kingdom below; albeit it did give her a slight chill. They could try to fly out of it to escape, but their wings were bound by metal clamps.

Iris noticed the only other dragon in the room was watching her. "What?"

Glory answered with a gesture at the empty room around her. "So, why do you think the Queen of all things awful wants to see us specifically?"

"I don't know," Iris responded, "Maybe she has a use for us, or maybe she wants to execute us because she has it in for Rainwings."

Glory blinked in surprise, "You jumped to death pretty fast."

Iris tilted her head, from everything she'd heard about the queen assuming immediate death didn't seem like much of a stretch. "Well, it seems pretty reasonable to me. Why else would she have us here?"

Glory's eyes seemed to invade hers, "What exactly do you know about Queen Scarlet?"

Iris lit up immediately. She had been compiling information about the outside world for years, hoping it would be useful one day. But the Rainwings almost never asked questions, and if they did it was usually about food. At this point, she could probably recite a list of every type of fruit in the rainforest. She reached into the back of her mind and brought up any information she had about the queen.

"Queen Scarlet is one of the longest-lived SkyWing queens, surviving a whole lot of challenges to the throne. No one has even tried to challenge her in the past few years. That's probably because Scarlet is said to have some strange monster in her palace that she uses to intimidate any future challengers. You know I wonder what it is? Maybe it's a scavenger? Oh, what if it's a jaguar! No that could never kill a dragon. Anyway, she also uses an arena to house her prisoners and have them fight to the death. Gross right? Scarlet is one of the richest queens, other than Burn-" Iris stopped to point out all of the gold splattered across the walls, "-She has decided to ally with Burn and the MudWings in the great war."

Glory nodded slowly and seemed to let the information sink in.

Iris heard a noise coming from the hallway and turned just as four crimson soldiers walked in. They situated themselves on either side of the door and clunked their spears menacingly.

The Queen strode through the doorway with an air of superiority. She brushed past the Rainwings nonchalantly and climbed gracefully onto her throne. From the way the throne was made it looked as if Scarlet was curled up on a cloud, a true Skywing.

She arched her neck elegantly to look down at them. Her eyes flitted quickly over the dragonets before stopping on Iris. "You," She questioned, her voice snapping like sharp wingbeats, "Can you fight?"

"W-what?" Iris stammered.

Scarlet rolled her eyes, "So, Rainwings can't understand dragon? I said, can you fight?"

Iris studied her claws, wondering if she could ever use them to hurt another dragon, "I don't think so." She looked back at the queen, "I've never done it before."

"Useless," Scarlet muttered turning to Glory. "Can you fight at least?"

Glory remained silent.

"Speak when you're spoken to."

Glory squawked sarcastically.

"Fine then, if you won't tell me I'll see for myself." She nodded at one of her guards. Iris watched him hesitate for a moment before obeying the Queen. He began to stalk towards Glory. The aforementioned Rainwing sat stiff and stared straight ahead.

 _'Should I help her? Does she know he's coming? I don't want to hurt him, but I don't want him hurting her either. Maybe I'll just pounce. Pouncing, jumping, I'll jump on his back and surprise him. Is this a good plan? Well, my legs are already moving.'_

Iris suddenly hopped on the Skywings back. He roared and reared back, flapping his wings erratically.

Glory whipped around, "What did you do that for? I had a plan!"

"Sorry!" Iris screeched as her claws scrabbled uselessly on her enemy's armor. She flailed her tail back and forth, batting his wings in the process. He twisted his neck around and sucked in a deep breath.

' _Fire, fire, FIREBREATH!'_ Iris thought. She instantly flopped off the dragons back and felt the heat of the sudden blast on her tail.

The Skywing turned to face her an growled. Iris backed up until she felt the room fall away beneath her tail.

The ledge was her only way out, and the ledge meant death.

In a sudden flash of shimmering scales, Glory leaped at the Skywing from behind, claws scratching at his face.

Surprised, he stumbled back. Glory charged at his armored chest and bowled him over. She sat on his chest in triumph.

A long, drawn-out clap sounded from behind them. They both turned towards the throne and saw Scarlet applauding them from her perch.

"Very good, you both seem to have a bit of fight in you." Scarlet asserted, glaring at the both of them. She nodded at Iris and her tortoiseshell scales, "Take that one to my sky prisons," She said and tilted her head at Glory's shimmering gold scales, "And you already know what to do with the other one.

The three other soldiers that were laughing at their friend moments before now raised a brow at the two Rainwings. They plodded forward haughtily; one held a loop of metal chains in their talons.

Iris watched as the Skywing on the floor pushed the slightly indignant Glory off of him. He narrowed his amber eyes at her before gripping onto one of her shining wings and pushing her towards the guards.

Two of the Skywings led Glory out of the room. She hissed and clawed at them in vain before one of them bit her wing to stop her.

Iris caught Glory's eye as she was dragged out of the room. The two dragons shared a look of uncertainty and terror before being separated.

The guard that had attacked Glory came up to Iris and pushed her over to his friend. The other Skywing brought them through what seemed like an unending chain of hallways and staircases before they came to a small arch opening.

The two Skywings awkwardly carried the Rainwing, (who now many shades of green), into the open sky. They flew for longer than Iris would have like, and she felt like the guards would drop her at any second.

Finally, the red dragons dropped the Iris roughly on a hard stone pavilion on top of a pillar taller than any tree in the rainforest. Several more of these stood in a ring with dragons occupying each of them. A sandy pit was far below. _'The arena,'_ Iris realized with a start. The female guard landed next to her and looped metal wires around each of her legs.

"What are those for? It's not like I'm going to jump off with these." Iris asked the guard, shifting her bound wings.

The Skywing simply ignored her and flew off with her partner.

"Hrmph, fine then, be rude," Iris complained. She surveyed the area, looking for a way out of her predicament. Three dragons to the right stood Clay, restlessly looking around the sky. A column on the other side of the ring held Tsnumai, who did not look pleased about her situation. Only one pillar held a Nightwing, so Iris assumed it was Starflight.

Directly in front of her was the edge of the pavilion. Iris cautiously reached a talon towards it, but something jerked her arm back. Her eyes followed the wire wrapped around her foot to a beige forearm. It was a Sandwing, his sullen face regarded her with uncertainty. Iris looked out at the rest of the spires.

Hundreds of wires were knotted together in a metal web. _'We're all tied together. That way, if someone falls, the rest will catch them.'_

She grinned at the Sandwing, "Oh, don't worry. I don't plan on falling any time soon."

The sandy dragon sighed; his muscles relaxed slightly.

"So what are you in for?" Iris quipped, sitting down and neatly folding her wings.

The Seawing regarded her with interest, "Treason, what are you in for Rainwing?"

Iris thought for a long moment. She leaned forward slightly and stared at her neighbor with earnest eyes, "Aiding and abetting criminals."

The Sandwing rasped a dry, crinkling laugh. His head swayed back and forth. Iris noticed that the tip of one of his horns was missing.

"What?" The Rainwing challenged, "It's the truth, and throughout that whole ordeal nobody seemed to take me seriously, let alone talk to me. So why are you now?"

He turned in a tight circle and curled up into a ball, his head facing Iris. "Well, the way I see it, you might be the last dragon I get to talk to, and you're not the worst conversation."

Iris put a talon to her chest, "Well, I certainly am flattered. You're not to bad yourself." Her gaze traveled along his spine. His scales were certainly pale yellow, but there was something under that. A small tinge of orange. It looked like the early morning sky.

"What's your name?"

The comment made Iris glance up at the Sandwings black eyes. "Iris, like the flower, hence the scales," She showed off her mauve face, tilting it towards the sun. "What's yours?"

"Horizon, my name is Horizon. My mother named me, she always had a knack for naming. All of my brothers and sisters, well, six sisters and two brothers, all had the best names. There was Alkali, Sage, Blazer, Burro, Milkweed, Coyote, Jackal, and Javelina. Her name wasn't so poetic, sadly enough. It was, oh I can hardly say it, Grain! Her name was Grain! Isn't that just the absolute worst name you've ever heard?

Iris gaped, she had never heard someone talk so much in her whole life! It was... awesome.

Horizon noticed her open mouth. He ducked his head. "I'm sorry, am I talking too much again? That's what got me in trouble last time. I told General Jackrabbit, "You don't want me as a spy, I talk too much!" But he insisted, so here I am, about to get chopped to pieces again in the arena."

Iris beamed, "No it's great! I love to talk too, a bit too much as some people say, but I just can't help it. There's a river of ideas flowing around and around in brain and I just need to get them out but at home, there's nobody to talk to and just-," She cut off her own speech by letting out a loud frustrated growl and scraping the rock with her claws.

Horizon breathed a tiny plume of flame and watched it dissipate. "Yeah, it'll feel like that sometimes, but someday you'll find your place and start to feel like you belong. At least, that's what happened to me at Blaze's compound."

"Yeah?" Iris sighed, studying the wires ensnaring her arms, "Well I don't feel like I really belong anywhere right about now."


	8. Chapter 7

Iris awoke the next morning to the sound of heavy wingbeats heading towards her. She poked her head up through the canopy she had been making with her wings and looked towards the sound.

It was the two Skywings from earlier. They were winging their way over to Iris' pavilion. _Hm,_ she mused, _Maybe the Queen has another message for me. Or maybe the guard I beat yesterday has come back for revenge._ She pondered this thought as the guards flew closer. Surprising Iris, they didn't land on her pillar, rather, they landed on Horizon's.

The Sandwing was already standing. His face was angry, but Iris caught a glimpse of something else in his eyes. Was it fear?

"Horizon, what's going on?"

The Sandwing didn't even glance at her.

"Come on, Sandwing," The male guard grunted, situating himself under the pale dragon's left wing. The female guard did the same on the right.

The three took off, the two on the outside supporting the one in the middle. The slowly descended to the sandy arena below.

Iris began to put two and two together.

 _That's the arena._

 _Dragons fight in the arena._

 _They're taking Horizon down there._

 _They're going to make him fight._

 _There's a chance he could lose._

Iris finally dropped her gaze to the stands encircling the arena. Dragons, -mostly Skywings and Mudwings with a few Sandwings sprinkled in-, chattered excitedly. A bright, tangerine-colored dragon paced around in the sand, her tail lashing.

The Skywings dropped Horizon roughly on the ground opposite his pacing challenger; a single soldier stood between the two.

"After four wins, Horizon the Sandwing- formerly and unwisely, a soldier in Blaze's army- has been challenged to match with the Queen's Champion, Peril. Claws up, fire, ready! Fight!" He roared before flying out of the arena. Horizon shrank back, emitting a low hiss.

Peril moved towards Horizon like a cat stalking its prey. She whipped her tail back and forth. Her scales seemed to glow in the sunlight.

 _How is he going to play this? He's much bigger than her and could easily overpower her. He won't kill her though- right?_

Horizon took a step back. Peril was mere steps away from him now. The Sandwing quickly made the decision of leaping over the Skywing.

 _Oh, there has to be a way for him to get out of this right?_

Below, Horizon's eyes were searching the arena, they landed on a tunnel in the arena wall. He ran for it.

But Peril suddenly stood in his way. She lightly scratched the Sandwing's chest. He howled in pain and scrambled back.

Iris felt as if talons were crushing her heart. "Don't hurt him!" Her voice rang across the sky, and a few dragons in the stands looked up.

The bright Skywing glanced up at the Rainwing, a look of surprise etched on her face. Iris noticed that her scales seemed to give off a strange glow.

 _But where is it coming from?_ Iris thought nervously.

Peril turned back to her opponent. She appeared to be a blank slate as her claws raked across Horizon's fragile scales.

Iris folded her wings over her head. She couldn't take it anymore.

 _I don't want to do that, I don't want to fight anyone. I don't want to have to use my venom on anyone. This isn't the adventure I wanted!_

Down in the arena, the yelps of pain twisted into an unnatural squeal.

Iris curled into a tight ball.

 _I won't fight, I won't. I'll lie down. Yeah, I'll lie down. Maybe they will too. I hope they do. They probably won't. I want my brother, I want to go home._


	9. Chapter 8

Iris sat curled in her ball a long while after the fight, not daring to peek her head out for fear of seeing the carnage. She mused bitterly about what Horizon had said about his family. She wondered if any of his siblings were still alive. She wondered if any other dragons even cared.

She felt two dragons thump down on the pavilion next to her. "Get up," she heard one of them growl.

Iris slowly stood, curling her wings around her and raising her head in defiance. "I won't go."

"That's not your choice."

The young Rainwing looked down at the arena below, "It should be."

One the guards, an orange one, touched her wing to the dragonet's, "Just come with us, it will make this all much easier."

Iris glared but held out her forearm, the guards began to unwind the wire. She noticed that they didn't take off her wing binds.

The guards carried her down to the arena and dropped her on the still blood-stained sand. She scrambled to catch herself and threw out her wings for balance, teetering dangerously.

Iris heard a few distant _'oohs'_ and ' _ahhs_ ' from the crowd. She looked around quickly before finally checking her own scales.

They looked as if the sunrise and night sky had slammed together. Bright red and orange dripped into smoky grays and blacks. Streaks of dark purple slithered across her scales like clouds on an early morning.

Iris sat down on the sand, spreading out her wings to catch the sun. She curled her tail around her toes and raised her head to the warm light.

The sun seemed to have a calming effect on the Rainwing. She contemplated the upcoming fight, _I don't want to hurt anyone. What if I refuse to fight anyone? Would that work? Oh, I should have asked Horizon if anybody has done that before._ She cringed when she thought about the other prisoner.

 _Well, if refusing to fight turns out to not be an option, I can always hide._ She glanced back at her bright scales and toned them down until they matched the surrounding area perfectly.

She heard a few startled gasps from the stands, followed by a panicked, "Wait, where'd she go?"

Iris gingerly took one step forward, and sadly noted that the sand left impressions underfoot, so even if the opposing dragon couldn't see her, they would still know where she was.

She suddenly felt a strange feeling on her neck, a tingle, as if someone were gently burrowing between her scales. He eyes blinked open and she saw a red dragon standing on a pavilion far above her.

The Queen of the Skywings glared at the dragonet below with a smirk on her face. She seemed to notice Iris looking at her. The Skywing's gaze shot over to some strange, rainbow decoration next to her.

It was Glory!

The dragonet was wrapped around a marble tree that sat sturdily next to Scarlet's throne.

 _That looks so uncomfortable._ Iris thought, _Her limbs are all stretched over different branches, and her tail is hanging straight down._

But, the other Rainwing looked... Happy. Her scales were pink with bright yellow spots.

A sudden clanging drew her attention to the passageway across the arena. Two soldiers were leading a large dragon out of the darkness.

A dragon that was a very familiar shade of blue.

A dragon that Iris knew all too well.

"Grouper?"


	10. Chapter 9

Iris remembered how she met Grouper quite well. It had been years since that day, but that first conversation was still completely clear.

 _She ran away from her brother's care one afternoon and headed down to the beach, hoping to find some interesting shells or rocks. But when she got there, instead of rocks and shells, she saw a light blue lump lying on the sand._

 _As she had neared the shape, she realized it was a dragon. He didn't look much older than her, and he definitely didn't look like any Rainwings she'd seen. Three neat slits were on his neck, and he had a massive frill on his back._

 _"_ _Hello?" She had whispered, poking him in the back. The dragon slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes._

 _"_ _Oh," He said, blinking slowly. His eyes were clouded with emotion, and his face was wet._

 _Iris remembered staring him down, she reached out to touch one of the slits in his neck._

 _"_ _Woah, woah, woah!" The blue dragon cried, jerking his head back. He backed away from her._

 _Iris didn't move but continued staring him down with a curious gaze. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to touch them; those things on your neck."_

 _"_ _Uh-huh," He began to back even farther away from the small dragonet, closer to the water._

 _In a flash, the Rainwing leaped forward and landed inches away from the other dragon's nose. "Please, don't go!" Iris met the blue dragon's eyes, "I think you're just about the most interesting thing I've ever seen."_

 _The blue dragon did a quick double take, "What? I'm the most interesting… What?"_

 _"_ _Oh yes!" Iris exclaimed, her scales turning bright pink. "I have no idea what you are! You're blue, and your scales don't seem to be changing. There are three long cuts in your neck, but you aren't acting like you're hurt."_

 _Iris suddenly gasped._

 _"_ _And your talons are webbed!" She grabbed one of the blue dragon's claws in her own, holding it close to her eye._

 _After a few moments, Iris dropped the other dragon's claw. She looked back up at the blue dragon, and realized with a start that- though he looked her age, he was much, much larger. "What are you?"_

 _He tensed and glanced back at the ocean, "I'm a Seawing."_

 _"_ _What's a Seawing?"_

 _"_ _What's a- don't Rainwings go to school?"_

 _Iris grinned, "School? What a funny sounding word. Nope, no schools here. Sounds like a cool plant though! Do you have them where you come from? Where do you come from? Nevermind, that's obvious, the sea! But how do you breath under there? Like fish? Are you just a big fish?" The Rainwing took a big whiff of the air around her, "You don't smell like a fish." Then she burst out laughing at her own comment, falling into a heap on the sand._

 _When she had finally stopped, the Seawing was sitting at the edge of the water, fixing her with a strange look. "You don't know much, do you?"_

 _Iris' attitude changed in an instant. She stomped her feet angrily, "Of course I know much! I know every much! It's not my fault you're a weird FISH-DRAGON that knows what SCHOOLS ARE!" She thought about running back to the Rainforest and telling her brother to get the sleeping darts, but then a thought suddenly occurred to her._

 _"_ _You know things, right, about the fish-dragons, and schools?"_

 _The Seawing tilted his head, "Yes."_

 _"_ _Could you maybe, tell me?"_

 _The Seawing nodded, "Sure," but then his expression grew more serious, "But no Seawing secrets."_

 _Iris giggled, "Why would I want to know fish-dragon secrets?"_

 _The Seawing threw his head back, "And stop calling me a fish-dragon!"_

 _"_ _Then what do I call you?"_

 _The blue dragon hesitated, "Grouper, like the fish."_

 _Iris beamed, "Well Grouperlikethefish, let's get started."_

This new dragon though, the one being led into the arena, was not the same Grouper. This one had scars on his shoulders, and two new nicks in his left ear. His claws too were different, they were stained with something dark.

"Grouper!" She said again, louder this time. The Seawing glanced in her direction with dull eyes that lit up immediately when he saw Iris. Then a scowl formed on his face, and his eyes narrowed.

"Grouper, it's me! Iris!" She flapped her wings excitedly and bright yellow bubbles formed on the edges.

Grouper didn't meet her eye, instead, he turned to face the pavilion Queen Scarlet watched from. There was a look of surprise on her face, which made Iris jump. She didn't think Scarlet had more emotions than smirking triumphantly and grimacing.

There was a long silence as the two guards in charge of Grouper unchained his forearms.

 _That's strange_ , thought Iris, _They took off my chains up in the sky prison. Then again, he came from a tunnel, maybe they keep him somewhere else? Like a dungeon? But why would they put him in the dungeon, and me in a sky prison? Preference? Or did Grouper do something worse than I did..._ ' That last thought in particular worried Iris, but she brushed it off. _Grouper doesn't have a bad bone in his body, it must be something else._

The guards finished taking off Grouper's shackles and marched back into the tunnel.

The announcer, who had most likely picked up on the tension, said awkwardly, "After seven wins, Grouper the Seawing- formerly a trespasser, and smuggler of goods in the Skywing palace- has been challenged to match up with a new prisoner, Iris the Rainwing- charged with aiding and abetting criminals. Claws up, fire, ready! Fight!"

Iris was smug for a moment, _That'll show Horizon for doubting me, I DID aid and abet criminals thank you very much!_ She suddenly remembered Horizon's fate and winced.

Across the arena, Grouper had turned to face her, but still wasn't meeting her eye. He paced towards her, head hung low. As he got closer, Iris noticed just how much bigger he'd gotten since they'd last seen each other. Grouper was at least two and a half heads taller than her.

The Seawing stopped in front of her, lifted his head as if he was going to look at her, then dropping it again.

"Hey, Grouper, you okay?" She whispered, rapping on his head with a claw.

In a sudden swift motion, he lifted his head up to its full height and reared back before crashing into her. He wrapped his wings around her and held her so tight she thought she might run out of air.

For a brief moment, she thought he was crushing her before realizing it was a hug.

"Grouper, hey, running out of air," she barely squeaked out. He let her go and she fell back onto the sand. He jumped around her happily, bouncing like a year old dragonet.

Iris flared her ruff slightly and more yellow seeped onto her scales, followed closely by shiny silver. "You've gotten… bigger."

Grouper bounded over to her, beaming, "Or you've just shrunk.''

"Nuh-uh, it's because of you and your stupid giant fish-dragon genes!"

"Iris, you do know not all Seawings are this big right?"

"Really? Wow, I thought Tsunami was just short."

Grouper shifted his wings, "Tsunami?"

Even more yellow flooded her scales and Iris wouldn't be surprised if she looked like a banana by now. "That's right, I haven't told you how I got here yet!"

Grouper frowned, "Wait, all of that 'aiding and abetting criminals' stuff is true? I thought for sure the Queen just made it all up 'cause she wanted a color-changing challenger."

"Nope." Iris made her ruff even bigger. "I'm a criminal now! Isn't that cool!"

Grouper's face changed and became serious. He stopped bouncing on his heels.

"No, it's not cool. Listen to me Iris, once Scarlet realizes we're not going to fight, she will pull me back into the dungeons. Wanna know where you'll go? Right back up to the Sky prisons. After that, more fights."

"Well, yeah, but if I just don't fight-" Iris started to speak but Grouper cut her off.

"That doesn't work, other dragons have tried, one actually succeeded a few times, and no one has seen him for months. You'll need to fight back."

Iris took a step back, "I don't do that, Rainwings, we don't harm or kill anyone."

"It's not like that here, you have to. They make you."

"Have you killed anyone?"

A pained look appeared on Grouper's face, he staggered forward like he had forgotten how to walk. "Please, I didn't want to."

Her gaze was cold as she took in Groupers scratched shoulders and stained claws, "You don't look like a dragon who didn't want to."

Iris heard heavy wingbeats above her but didn't look up. Two red dragons landed beside the Rainwing and prepared to carry her off. Four more guards rushed past them and began to hurriedly re-shackle the Seawing.

"Get off!" He roared. His tail smashed into one of guards heads as the blue dragon struggled.

Iris remained silent as the remaining, or conscious, guards subdued the angry dragon. She felt the other two guards lifting her into the sky. She squeezed her eyes shut to save herself from the queeziness she would feel from seeing the long drop below her.

The two guards set her down on the pavilion and wrapped the wires around her arms once again. Then they left.

In her absence, Horizon had been replaced by a scrawny orange Skywing. He glanced nervously back and forth from the arena to Iris.

Iris ignored his eyes on her. Instead, she curled up into a neat ball on her stone prison and went to sleep.


	11. Chapter 10

_Iris flapped her wings and leaped away from another set of talons. "Leave me alone!" She slapped away a pair of vicious jaws. "I don't want to hurt you!"_

 _The sand seemed to barely hold her up, and Iris felt herself sinking deeper into the arena floor. Pale, faceless dragons clawed at her, hundreds of them all piling on top of her. Suddenly, a strong claw gripped her forearm and dragged her to the surface. A Mudwing face stared back at her._

" _Clay!" Iris went to wrap her wings around him, but he stepped back quickly._

" _Are you alright?" She glanced around, noticing the ghost-like dragons had disappeared. "Hey, where did all of those dragons go?"_

 _Clay said nothing. He turned and walked into the center of the arena. Iris to ran after him, but bars slammed down in front of her, blocking her way._

" _Clay!" She screeched and reached through the bars. The Mudwing didn't even look back at her._

 _A scream ripped through the arena, "ICEWING!"_

 _A cloud of white and blue, all too vibrant to be real, hovered over the arena. In a swift motion, it descended on the single dragonet standing in the middle._

" _CLAY OF THE MUDWINGS!"_

Iris jerked her head up from the stone floor, gasping for air. She leapt up and turned in a circle, punctuating each step with a sharp gasp.

The Skywing on the pavilion next to her jumped back, giving her a bewildered stare.

Iris was about to ask him what he was looking at when a shout from below caught her attention.

"Fight!"

Down in the arena, two opponents faced each other. One was wearing a nervous sort-of half-smile, while the other bore an ugly grimace with a jagged scar running down his face.

Iris noticed with a start that the nervous one was, undoubtedly, Clay, though she had no idea who the other opponent was, besides the fact that he was an Icewing.

 _Oh no, he's fighting in the arena!_

Her mind instantly started flashing through the possibilities, Clay dying, the Icewing dying, Queen Scarlet killing them both, an asteroid falling from space and striking the whole Skywing kingdom dead…

The Rainwing shook her head as if clearing away the flood of thoughts. Her talon began to tap the stone nervously, _rat-a-TAT, rat-a-TAT, rat-a-TAT._ The steady beat began to fill her head.

She watched Clay jump around on the sand and narrowly avoid the Icewing's serrated claws.

A dangerous thought began to creep into her head, a scary phrase from an old friend.

 _It's not like that here, you have to. They make you._

Thoughts started flooding Iris' mind, more and more rushing in each second.

 _Will Clay kill that Icewing? Do I want him to kill that Icewing? If he does, will I ever be able to look at him the same way? Will he turn out like Grouper? What did Grouper even turn out like? I didn't give him a chance to explain. Maybe I should try and talk to him? No, he killed dragons, plus, to even get near him I would have to escape this prison. Wait, Clay's pinned down. No, no, Clay, get up!_

"C'mon Clay!" Iris roared, pounding her tail against the stone. Pain spiked along where her tail hit, but she paid no attention. "Clay, fight! Sunny needs you!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Iris saw a blue blur hurl itself off one of the prisons. She turned and saw Tsunami pulling at the wires mid-air, trying to get down to Clay. It reminded her of a shiny blue beetle caught in a spider's web. Prisoners around her fought desperately to keep from being pulled off of their own spires, holding the Seawing up in the process.

Iris heard a disgruntled cry from the Queen below. A few dragons in the stands booed at Tsunami for interrupting their fun. Prisoners around the circle screamed at her to stop so they wouldn't fall to their deaths.

Then there was the worst scream.

A terrifyingly loud, brutal, scale-peeling, scream. A scream that Iris recognized.

A scene unfolded in her head. A group of young dragonets playing in the jungle. One says something along the lines of, "Watch this." A stream of venom shoots from their mouth in the direction of a banana tree. It lands directly on one of the leaves. The dragonets are impressed for a moment. Then the screams begin.

Another dragonet had been sitting perfectly still on the tree, camouflaged, spying, most likely. The venom landed on her foot. A foot that looked exactly like the leaf of a banana tree.

Iris turned to look back at the fight. Paranoia and horror crashed together like waves in her head, but she wasn't just being paranoid, she was right.

The Icewing's face had already turned into something unrecognizable. An ugly mess of melted flesh and scales that looked the tree sap, bits of bone could be seen through the skin that now more closely resembled soup.

Iris once again buried her head underneath her wings. She heard the scrawny dragon next to her throw up. She spent a few minutes trying to erase the image from her mind.

Then, after her mind was finally back to some semblance of stability, a new thought occurred to her.

 _That was Rainwing venom. There are no other Rainwings in the Sky prisons. I didn't spray that prisoner._

She slowly lifted her head out from underneath her wings. Her eyes settled on the marble tree sitting next to Queen Scarlet's throne.

 _Glory?_


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter, actually the same chapter, just re-uploaded. The original copy had some coding issues so I had to fix it.**

 **Thank you to 'The Ducks' for pointing out the issue to me!**

 _Iris flapped her wings and leaped away from another set of talons. "Leave me alone!" She slapped away a pair of vicious jaws. "I don't want to hurt you!"_

 _The sand seemed to barely hold her up, and Iris felt herself sinking deeper into the arena floor. More pale faceless dragons clawed at her, hundreds of them all piling on top of her. Suddenly, a strong claw gripped her forearm and dragged her to the surface. A Mudwing face stared back at her._

" _Clay!" Iris went to wrap her wings around him, but he stepped back quickly._

" _Are you alright?" She glanced around, noticing the ghost-like dragons had disappeared. "Hey, where did all of those dragons go?"_

 _Clay said nothing. He turned and walked into the center of the arena. Iris to ran after him, but metal bars slammed down in front of her, blocking her way._

" _Clay!" She screeched and reached through the bars. The Mudwing didn't even look back at her._

 _A scream ripped through the arena, "ICEWING!"_

 _A cloud of white and blue, all too vibrant to be real, hovered over the arena. In a swift motion, it descended on the single dragonet standing in the middle._

" _CLAY OF THE MUDWINGS!"_

Iris jerked her head up from the stone floor, gasping for air. She leaped up and turned in a circle, punctuating each step with a sharp gasp.

The Skywing on the pavilion next to her jumped back, giving her a bewildered stare.

Iris was about to ask him what he was looking at when a shout from below caught her attention.

"Fight!"

Down in the arena, two opponents faced each other. One was wearing a nervous sort-of half-smile, while the other bore an ugly grimace accompanied by a jagged scar running down his face.

Iris noticed with a start that the nervous one was, undoubtedly, Clay, though she had no idea who the other opponent was- besides the fact that he was an Icewing.

Her mind instantly started flashing through the possibilities, Clay dying, the Icewing dying, Queen Scarlet killing them both, an asteroid falling from space and striking the whole Skywing kingdom dead…

The Rainwing shook her head as if clearing away the useless thoughts. Her talon began to tap the stone nervously, _rat-a-TAT, rat-a-TAT, rat-a-TAT._ The steady beat began to rattle around her skull.

She watched Clay jump around on the sand, narrowly avoiding the Icewing's claws.

A dangerous thought began to creep into her head, a scary phrase from an old friend.

 _It's not like that here, you have to. They make you._

More and more thoughts started flooding Iris' mind.

 _Will Clay kill that Icewing? Do I want him to kill that Icewing? If he does, will I ever be able to look at him the same way? Will he turn out like Grouper? What did Grouper even turn out like? I didn't give him a chance to explain. Maybe I should try and talk to him? No, he killed dragons, plus, to even get near him I would have to escape this prison. Wait, Clay's pinned down. No, no, Clay, get up!_

A spark of anger came from within her, and red pulsed along her scales. "C' mon Clay!" Iris roared, pounding her tail against the stone. Pain spiked along where her tail hit, but she paid no attention. "Clay, fight! Sunny needs you!" The Rainwing gasped and took a step back. _No, no, I can't be rooting for him to fight. But… What if that's the only way Clay can win?_

Something caught her eye, and Iris turned. She saw that Tsunami had leaped off one of the prisons and was pulling at the wires mid-air, trying to get down to Clay. It reminded her of a shiny blue beetle caught in a spider's web. Prisoners around her fought desperately to keep from being pulled off of their own spires, holding the Seawing up in the process.

Iris heard a disgruntled cry from the Queen below. A few dragons in the stands booed at Tsunami for interrupting their fun. Prisoners around the circle screamed at her to stop so they wouldn't fall to their deaths.

Then there was the worst scream.

A terrifyingly loud, brutal, scale-peeling, scream. A scream that Iris recognized.

A scene unfolded in her head. A group of young dragonets playing in the jungle. One says something along the lines of, "Watch this." A stream of venom shoots from their mouth in the direction of a banana tree. It lands directly on one of the leaves. The dragonets are impressed for a moment. Then the screams begin.

Another dragonet had been sitting perfectly still on the tree, camouflaged, spying, most likely. The venom landed on her foot. A foot that looked exactly like the leaf of a banana tree.

Iris turned to look back at the fight, paranoia and horror crashing together like waves in her head- but she wasn't just being paranoid, she was right.

The Icewing's face had already turned into something unrecognizable. An ugly mess of melted flesh and scales that looked the tree sap, bits of bone could be seen through the skin that now more closely resembled soup.

Iris once again buried her head underneath her wings. She heard the scrawny dragon next to her throw up. She spent a few minutes trying to erase the image from her mind.

Then, after her mind was finally back to some semblance of stability, a new thought occurred to her.

 _That was Rainwing venom. There are no other Rainwings in the Sky prisons. I didn't spray that prisoner._

She slowly lifted her head out from underneath her wings. Her eyes settled on the marble tree sitting next to Queen Scarlet's throne.

 _Glory?_

A rock flew up in the air and fell back down, only to be caught in a large, purple palm. The palm threw up the rock again, waiting until the rock had almost hit the floor before catching it. Over and over the rock was tossed up and caught again, each time it got closer and closer to the ground before it was caught.

It had been hours since Clay's fight, and Iris had been looking for ways to pass the time. At first she had tried striking up a conversation with the prisoners next to her, but she had felt from the beginning that wouldn't work, and she was right. They both ignored her, the scrawny Skywing even turning his back on her. At that moment she had felt a pang of loneliness. She had wanted someone to talk too, Grouper, Jambu, Horizon, even nearby bird would have been nice.

Eventually, she had been able to pry a small chunk of rock loose from the pavilion and had been playing with it for a while.

She tossed the rock up again, only this time she misjudged the distance and it flew too far. Her only companion plummeted over the edge of her prison.

The Rainwing sighed and flopped down next to the small crack in the stone that she had gotten the first rock from and started scratching at it, preparing herself for sore claws the next morning.

"Hey Rainwing, feeding time."

She glanced up and saw a guard hovering above her prison, he had a sour look on his face and was holding a sack that was so full it was almost tearing at the seams. He reached into the bag and pulled out something furry. It made a strange noise as the guard dropped it onto the pavilion. The animal stood as still as a stone for a few seconds before promptly falling over and screaming.

Iris flinched and covered her ears. She met the guard's eyes, "Uh, what's up?"

The guard rolled his eyes and turned to fly away, but not before Iris could cry out. "Wait!"

He stopped looking back at the Rainwing, "What do you want?"

"Well," she hesitated, "You see, Rainwings don't really eat meat."

The guard paused, blinked, and then began laughing so loud Iris was surprised the ground didn't start to shake.

One of the other guards flew over from another sky prison, "What is it Lightning?"

"Did you hear Feather," Lightning breathed between gasps, "Rainwings don't eat meat!"

Iris heard a small squeak come from the other guard, but she straightened up and put on a serious face. "Well, then I guess we're going to have to report that to the Queen." She swooped down just above Iris's prison and wrapped her talons neatly around the screaming animal, "And I'll take this for myself- since none of the prisoners will be eating it today."

Lightning slowly regained his composure, "Alright, I'll tell the Queen, maybe then she'll be able to think up some special treat for her pet."

 _Queen Scarlet's pet? He must mean Glory. Wait, she's been getting meat this whole time? How awful!_

Iris watched the two fly off towards the palace, "Hey, what am I going to eat!"

She received no answer except for their rapidly fading wingbeats.

After a while of unsuccessfully scraping at the small crack in the stone floor, trying to loosen another chunk of rock, Iris heard a soft thunk across the pavilion. She turned and saw a small wooden bowl overflowing with berries, along with a dragon already winging it towards the palace.

Iris darted over to the bowl, shoveling its contents into her mouth. _I don't think I've ever been this hungry before in my life. Well, then again, I don't think I've ever missed a meal before either._

When the last berry had been consumed, Iris flopped back onto the pavilion. She was still hungry, but she guessed that fruit was all she would be getting for a while.

Above her, clouds floated by in a slow march, their white-ness sticking out against the streaks of red and orange that slowly overtook the sky.

As she watched the clouds steadily make their way across the sky, her mind seemed to relax for the first time in days. The stress of possibly fighting in the arena, the strange dragonets she had found, the fact that Glory had melted a dragon's face off, and even Grouper, slipped out of her head. Soon she felt her eyelids growing heavy, the sky became a blurry mix of purple and red, and Iris's mind fell away into nothingness.

The next day was much more exciting.

A nervous feeling enveloped Iris like a blanket. Her talons tapped in rapid formation on the stone below her, _Rat-a-tat, Rat-a-tat, Rat-a-TAT._

Rather than resolving some of the anxious thoughts Iris had been having, that day had added even more to the list.

A very interesting trial had happened, involving one of Clay's weird adoptive-slash-kidnapper parents. Apparently, she had had two very special dragonets, one was special in a way that meant it was basically always on fire and could burn things with a single touch _,_ and the other special in a way that meant they had no fire.

It was a death sentence for both of them.

Kestrel, Clay's weird mom, had been told, by Queen Scarlet, to kill one, and let the other live. An impossible request, Iris had thought, but apparently, Skywings were tougher than most- because Kestrel did it. She killed the dragonet with no fire.

But, Queen Scarlet had revoked her order, telling her guards to take Kestrel away and kill the other dragonet. The desperate mother tried to flee, but the dragonet's scales had burned her palms and she had been forced to drop her.

The story ended, and Iris had come quickly to her conclusion, the dragon, or 'The Queen's Champion', that had murdered Horizon was Kestral's daughter.

Then things had begun to get interesting. The bright, tangerine-colored dragon, or, Peril, had dove into the arena, shouting at the queen and demanding to fight for her mother, saying something about a Champion's Shield.

The queen had sat, frozen for a moment, before questioning the dragon about where she could have heard about such things.

Then, it was Peril's time to freeze.

 _That poor, poor, old dragon,_ Iris thought, sighing at the memory of what had happened next.

The queen had grabbed Osprey and lifted him high in the air, then, in a second, dropped him. He had plummeted to earth, his wings took too long to outstretch, and his tail seemed to weigh him down. At that point, Iris had had to look away, but from the sound his body made when he hit the ground, she knew his fate.

Everyone was so quiet after it had happened, even the dragons who had laughed and cheered along with Scarlet had nothing to add.

The queen had agreed to Peril's challenge and left, and that was it. The dragon's in the stands left, Peril left, Kestrel was taken back to her cell, and eventually, the only ones left were the ones who came to clean up Osprey's body.

 _How can they all be so casual about death?_ Iris remembered thinking. She had thought about that for a long time but still couldn't find an answer.


	13. Chapter 12

Iris lay sprawled out on the stone pillar. Her bright red wings matched the colors of the setting sun were stretched out across the prison and her tail flicked lazily.

She wasn't relaxed, per se, it was more of a, 'I've got nothing better to do in this horrible place so why not enjoy some quality sun-time?'

Wingbeats rang out in the sky above her, but Iris had learned to ignore them by now. The Skywing soldiers were always practicing drills somewhere in the sky, though Iris was surprised they were doing this late in the evening.

The steady thrum of wings set Iris's mind at ease. She mused over the things that had happened in the past days now that she finally had the time to just sit and think.

 _Let's see, I threw a pinecone at Queen Scarlet, tried to help some kidnapped dragonets who lived under a mountain, failed to rescue said kidnapped dragonets,I got taken away to the Sky Kingdom, made a friend, my friend got killed by a dragon who is constantly on fire, found out my best friend is a murderer and found out another dragon I know is a murderer because she melted someone's FACE off. But, hey, at least I got to watch a trial, that was fun. Oh, wait, somebody got murdered during THAT too._

 _I hope Jambu's not too worried about me. I don't think I've ever been gone this long before. Oh, and I missed my lunch with Loris! She's going to be so sad!_

Iris sighed and flopped over, letting the last few rays of sunlight for the day wash over her scales.

 _Then there's the case of Grouper. He killed dragons in the arena. He promised he would never do that, he promised! Maybe I can forgive him? No, he killed innocent dragons. I can't forgive him! Never!_

She closed her eyes and curled her arms around herself, _That's enough thinking for today._ The noise of her thoughts faded and she almost thought she could drift off when a loud shrieking noise interrupted her.

Iris jolted out of her half sleep. _What was that? It almost sounded like a hawk, maybe an eagle?_ She looked up at the night sky, but didn't see any bird silhouette. Three more cries rang out, each one a slightly different pitch. Her head turned this way and that, trying to find the source of the noise. _What type of bird is that? I must be a pretty sad excuse for a Rainwing if I can't even figure out one bird call._

The sound continued, echoing throughout the sky. Each cry was slightly different, either lower or higher, and there were pauses between each. It seemed almost like a song, every few notes starting again with a slightly changed pattern. It itched at Iris's ears, something familiar about the tune…

A thought struck her suddenly like a tree branch to the head. _I've heard that before, it's a song. Grouper used to hum it on the beach while we made sandcastles! Someone's playing a song somehow!_

Then, out of the dark, a low, solemn voice rang out, " _Oh the dragonets are coming…"_

Then another, from the opposite side of the circle, " _They're coming to save the day.."_

There were dragons, prisoners, from all over Phyrria, singing together, " _They're coming to fight… For they know what's right… The dragonets…"_

Iris thought for a moment about joining in before deciding against it. She already knew that her voice sounded like, at least according to the dragonets in the nursery, 'A dying macaw who is also falling from really high up, like, super high up,', and she didn't need to prove that to a bunch of prisoners. She could hum along though, so, that's what she did.

Listening to the words, Iris noticed something.

 _The dragonets, why do I keep hearing that name? Grouper never mentioned anything about it, at least I don't remember him mentioning it. Is this one of those things that dragons who grow up outside the rainforest know about? Argh, why couldn't I have grown up in the Mudwing Kingdom, or the Skywing Kingdom, well, definitely not the Skywing kingdom, but anywhere but the Rainforest!_

 _Well, that's not true either, I'm glad I got to grow up with Jambu as a brother. He was always nice and supportive, he just didn't really understand._

 _Wait, what was I thinking about again? Let's see, Jambu, Skywing Kingdom, Growing up outside the Rainforest, oh, yeah, the Dragonets._

 _Maybe they're some form of an underground organization, or prophesized super-dragons! That's kind of crazy, but anything could be true at this point._

Iris let her mind calm down and listened as the song picked up speed. More and more dragons began to sing. She smacked her tail on the stone in time with the music and continued to hum along.

 _If only Grouper were here, he was such a great singer, at least when I last heard him._ The thought made her smile sadly and her eyes wandered out across the sky, slowly lowering to the arena.

Suddenly a jet of fire burst the arena doors wide open and two dragons stormed out onto the sand.

"Stop that infernal racket right now!" Burn roared.

The singing stopped abruptly, everyone too afraid that they would be the one blamed.

Down on the sand, Queen Scarlet pointed at Tsunami, "You," she pointed at Starflight, "You," then pointed at Clay, "Well, probably not you, but get down here anyway."

Finally, she turned her claw to Iris, "And you."

Guards flew up to collect the dragonets. Iris stuck her tongue out at the ones who took her down the ground.

When they got there, she inspected the three dragonets who were there with her. Starflight, a scrawny Nightwing, Tsunami, a Seawing who Iris had only seen angry, though at that moment she was giving Clay a concerned look, Clay, a sturdy looking Mudwing who dried mud and blood crusted on his scales.

"Bring them this way," Scarlet snapped, disappearing through the doorway and into the dark tunnel with Burn.

Iris gave one last look at the night sky before following the guards into the tunnel.


End file.
